By Joab Apollo
As the 2022 Kenyan Presidential election campaigns intensify, fresh headache has hit Deputy President William Ruto’s camp, dealing a heavy blow to his Presidential quest.
The ghosts of the 2007/08 post-election ethnic pogrom have refused to leave him even after the case was terminated in April 2016.
In a detailed and long statement submitted to the court by the International Criminals Court (ICC) Deputy Prosecutor, James Stewart, dated November 22, Ruto risks being imprisoned by the court for witness interference.
According to the Prosecution, Ruto alongside lawyer Paul Gicheru, who is already at the ICC, charged with witness interference and intimidation, hatched a well-oiled plot to bribe or intimidate witnesses.
“The evidence establishes that the pattern of witness interference was conducted for the benefit of, and in coordination with, William Ruto,” said the statement.
“The ultimate goal of the common plan was to undermine the Prosecution witness.” It added.
The case was terminated on 5th April, 2016, with the then ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, blaming witness intimidation and interference. Bensouda alluded to a possibility of a future reopening of the case.
Ruto was charged together with Joshua Arap Sang, a renowned radio presenter with six counts of Crimes against Humanity which included murder, rape, forcible transfer of population and destruction of property.
The post-election violence resulted into the death of 1200 people within a period of one month. To end the violence, a political truce was hammered by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
What this case means is that Ruto is also likely to be barred from participating in the forthcoming election, should the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Kenya’s election agency, apply the Integrity clause of the Kenyan constitution.